It’s a Sunday Night. There’s a chill in the air and Carrie Underwood is already singing “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.”
It’s 8:20 p.m., time for kick-off. The players face the opposing team as millions of viewers watch.
As the ball is punted under the bright stadium lights, the camera pans to a beautiful girl sitting in a luxury box.
Her name displays on the screen and most are focused on her hair, makeup or Chanel-sponsored outfit. The conversation isn’t about what she does for a living, but why she’s there.
They even have a name for her: a WAG, an acronym known as “Wives and girlfriends” for pro-athletes.
An NFL player might be the reason the world knows her name, but that doesn’t mean his career is the only one worth watching.
WAG culture has always treated women as status symbols — beautiful women standing next to famous, wealthy athletes. The stereotype suggests their role is simple: to sit still and look pretty.
In reality, the role extends far beyond that. Some WAGs are influencers.
In a recent interview with Variety about social media influencers, Pete Davidson said, “It’s bad and it makes me sad, and you know girls are just talking to themselves on there and they’re like ‘OK get ready with me’ and I’m like who the fuck are you, what do you do? Nothing.”
Men kick balls for millions which is considered a legitimate career, yet a woman can’t build an audience around fashion, beauty or lifestyle content, which is overall the best marketing you can get.
Davidson calls this “nothing.”
As women associated with this label build multi-million dollar brands, companies and careers of their own, we have to reconsider if WAG still describes them or diminishes them.
Take Paige Lorenze, who recently married professional tennis player Tommy Paul. Lorenze already built a following before their relationship, but her courtside appearances at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open introduced her to an even larger audience.
She launched her lifestyle brand Dairy Boy in 2021, mostly centering around a New England Lifestyle — horses, Connecticut and the outdoors. Since then, the brand has grown traction, with drops, pop-ups and campaigns incorporating the tennis aesthetic.
Instead of shying away from the fact her brand is centered around her tennis life, she made it a viable asset to her business.
These women aren’t just arm candy standing next to an athletic man. They’re smart business women who use the visibility surrounding their relationships to build brands, market their products and build a following entirely on their own. They’ve turned the attention that comes with being a ‘WAG’ into an opportunity.
In a Who Wore What interview Lorenze said, “I think being a WAG is the least interesting thing about me.”
The success of Dairy Boy shows that sentiment. According to an article from Inc., Dairy Boy’s revenue grew 160% from 2024 to 2025 demonstrating how Lorenze has built a successful business that extends beyond just her relationship.
Take another WAG for example: Kristin Juszczyk who’s married to 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
She began making custom game-day outfits to wear to her husband’s games, and they quickly gained attention beyond the sidelines.
In 2024, Taylor Swift wore a Kansas City Chiefs puffer jacket designed by Juszczyk. Her appearance in the jacket went viral and helped launch the brand.
Juszczyk eventually designed outfits for other high profile celebrities such as Caitlin Clark, Simone Biles and Brittany Mahomes.
She’s now the co-founder and chief creative officer of Off Season, a brand focused on cute NFL, NBA, WNBA and Formula One fan apparel.
Her success earned her attention beyond the NFL. In 2026, TIME named her on its inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in sports.
She doesn’t need her husband’s name to be known. In fact, she might be more recognizable than her husband in some cases.
These women may have had their start through their NFL or professional sports league boyfriends, but as they build names and careers for themselves on their own, we don’t have to only associate them this way.
Their relationships are part of their public identities, but they shouldn’t define these women. The term WAG only tells us who a woman is dating, not about who they are as a person or their entrepreneurial capabilities.
If a WAG is the least interesting thing about Paige Lorenze, it’s time we stopped treating it like the most important one.
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